


Do Skeletons Drive Stick Shift?

by NoSleepUntilVacation



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Character Study, Freedom, Gen, Happy, Papyrus Being Papyrus, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, the world is just awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-29 06:40:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15067361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoSleepUntilVacation/pseuds/NoSleepUntilVacation
Summary: Something about cars always made Papyrus intrigued, even when he was still trapped underground.





	Do Skeletons Drive Stick Shift?

Ever since he was a babybones, Papyrus had a natural curiosity about the world. Were it only possible, he would not only partake in all the cool activities that the world had to offer, but he would invite all of his friends to join in with him. Even as he grew into an adult and abandoned striped shirts in favor of other clothes, including his iconic "battle body", he never lost his enthusiasm about the world.

Some topics in particular captured his attention especially well. He always loved puzzles, even when he was little; the sensation of being presented with what appeared to be an extremely difficult conundrum, as well as the immense satisfaction and pride that would come with solving one, were both priceless feelings for him. Making spaghetti, and cooking in general, also proved to bring him joy; this was especially true when he was specifically cooking for other people. Another easy way to get his attention on something was to get Mettaton involved in it; not only was he Papyrus' favorite celebrity, but with his entire ocean of fans and admirers, he was living the exact kind of life Papyrus wished he could live. And while this sort of tapered out after everyone moved to the surface, he also yearned to join the Royal Guard. The guards were considered heroes, so what better way to get the Underground to love you?

And although he didn't talk about it quite as frequently, Papyrus adored cars.

Anyone who visited his and Sans' house and asked him about his racecar bed would have known it. Papyrus had familiarized himself with some surface-world entertainment that had ended up underground, and he knew that people on the surface loved to drive. The exact type of car one owned was said to speak volumes about what kind of person they were. Magazines would discuss the technical specifications of different cars, as well as general trends in the automotive industry. (Some of these publications would debate the merits of automatic vs. stick shift; Papyrus would have been happy either way.) There were entire songs about the joy of driving down an open road, with the sun shining down, the breeze blowing by, and new things to see at every turn.

For Papyrus, thoughts of having a car of his own not only called to mind thoughts of freedom and being cool. It meant he would get to see the world as well.

When he lived in the Underground, he sort of made Snowdin his own personal domain. Aside from the two-story house that he and Sans shared, he would also spend many long days in the forest, setting up all sorts of cool puzzles and keeping a watchful eye socket out for any humans. At the other end of Snowdin was a door; he'd never been able to go beyond it and see what was inside, although he did sometimes see Sans going in that direction for reasons he couldn't entirely fathom. Once he knew he wanted to join the Royal Guard, he started spending quite a bit of time in Waterfall, usually to train at Undyne's house. Hotland was a mixed bag for him; while he definitely had problems with it and was grateful for not living there (or so he would claim), it couldn't be all bad. It was the home of Mettaton, after all!

The thing about the Underground, though, was that the entire distance could easily be walked over the course of one day. As everyone learned shortly before moving to the surface, it was literally so easy a child could do it.

This just wasn't enough for Papyrus. Even for a man like him, who almost never seemed to sit still, he knew full well that the surface was huge. He'd heard of the concepts of road trips and freeways and the idea that it could take more than one day to get from one end of the country to the other. Were it not for his endless enthusiasm about life in general, he would have been far more upset about being confined to the Underground. (Plus, there was the idea that he could be the person to capture and deliver the final soul to King Asgore, becoming a hero to all of monsterkind in the process.)

Fortunately, there did come a day where monsters roamed free. Frisk became their ambassador, and at first, Papyrus was simply their mascot. He would often win over people with his friendliness and optimism. However, after the initial tensions blew over and it became clear that monsters and humans would get along, Papyrus found that he didn't have as much work to do as he once did. He and Frisk would still speak before different groups every now and then when needed, but for the most part, the two were more free to live normal lives. For Frisk, this meant attending school; Papyrus, on the other hand, decided to get a job.

When he heard that there were openings at a local auto repair shop, he jumped at the opportunity. Of course, he had to go through training first, but he was bound and determined to learn everything he needed to know; indeed, even his instructor noticed that he was a fast learner. Once he became a proper employee, he proved himself to be very dependable indeed; he always arrived at work on time and, unless there was an emergency, never left early. In addition, he would always do everything in his power to make sure his customers' cars worked properly again, so that they too could experience the freedoms and sensations he'd dreamed of back underground.

And then, one day, he managed to experience those freedoms himself when he learned how to drive and eventually got his very own car. It was a bright red convertible, one of the classic "cool" cars. Ever since then, when he wasn't busy with work or anything else, one of his favorite things to do would be to take a drive somewhere. What some humans saw as the same-old-same-old was entirely new to him; it was a wonder he didn't ever completely stop focusing on the road when he saw all the new sights.

On his weekends, he often liked driving on the freeways, looking at the billboards and seeing just how far the freeway went. It was either that, or he would drive on the surface streets, seeing all the different shops and attractions. The first time he ended up in the town's historical district felt very magical indeed; there were so many cool stores that couldn't be found anywhere else in the area. Sometimes he would drive down more natural roads, where he would see tall trees and natural rock formations, as well as the view of Mt. Ebbot in the distance; another time, he saw the sun setting over the ocean as he drove down a seaside road. Whenever he saw something really cool, he would pull over and take a picture (since even he knew that using cell phones while driving was a bad idea), sharing it with all his friends.

Maybe someday, he and all his cool friends would be able to take a road trip together. They could sing along to the radio as they drove down all those paths, exploring everything the world had to offer to them. And even then, the country was big enough that they could drive for literal days and still be quite a ways away from making it to the other side.

But for now, Papyrus was finally able to drive down an open road, with the sun shining down, the breeze blowing by, and new things to see at every turn. And, thanks to his job, he was able to ensure that people were more easily able to enjoy those same freedoms.

Automatic or stick shift, he was one happy skeleton.


End file.
